‘American Idol’ and ‘Sunday Night Football’ Are Top TV Shows for Ad Rates

It’s probably no surprise that Fox’s ‘American Idol’ tops the list for shows where it costs the most for companies to buy advertising. But it probably is shocking that the show giving them a run for their ad money isn’t another reality show or even ‘Two and a Half Men;’ it’s NBC’s ‘Sunday Night Football.’

While ‘Sunday Night Football’ actually tops the list with an average of $512,367, compared to ‘American Idol’s’ average of between $468,100 and $502,900, ‘Idol’ actually surges ahead as they get deeper into the season, topping out at a reported $640,000.

Here are the other top shows for ad rates on the networks. Most of them seem to be on Fox.